Speaking with Fight Back! Dec. 15, a leader of the U.S.-based National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, Tom Burke, slammed a Nov. 12 lawsuit filed in Florida Middle District Court against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Burke stated, “This is nothing more than an attempt by a group of U.S. mercenaries to gain publicity and put some more money in their pockets. The lawsuit fits into a larger agenda – to criminalize the main Colombian rebel group, the FARC, an organization that is fighting for a free, just and independent Colombia.”

Bogotá, Colombia – Liliany Obando is powerful. She is one thousands of Colombian political prisoners. For a year now, I have known Liliany through letters. We finally met face-to-face on three occasions, during a delegation sponsored by the U.S.-based Campaign for Labor Rights and the Colombia Action Network. I represented the International Network in Solidarity with Colombia’s Political Prisoners.

I’m a fairly tall man, and Liliany is relatively small. But upon first meeting her, I was engulfed by one of her bear hugs – hugs that show a heart and courage many times larger than her size. Liliany is in jail, accused of ‘rebellion.’ Yet even behind bars, she is organizing; collecting the testimonies of other political prisoners and advocating for a humanitarian exchange of prisoners between the Colombian government and guerrillas as a first step toward a just peace.

US Bases in Colombia: It is a Time for Mobilization, for Marching Together
Written by Fidel Castro Ruz

This reflection is not addressed to the governments, but to the fraternal peoples of Latin America.

Tomorrow, August 28, the UNASUR Summit will convene in Argentina and its significance cannot be overlooked.

There, an analysis should be made of the concession to the American superpower of seven military bases in the Colombian territory. A rigorous secrecy had been imposed on the previous talks of the two governments. The accord should have been presented to the world as a fait accompli.

In August, a delegation of U.S. students, trade unionists and anti-war activists traveled to Colombia to meet with leaders in the struggle there. The Colombian Action Network and the Campaign for Labor Rights, two grassroots organizations here in the United States fighting against U.S. intervention in Colombia, hosted the trip.

“I knew what I heard in the U.S. media about the benefits of U.S. tax money and aid to Colombia was true only for the rich. I wanted to see for myself what the reality is for Colombians,” said Jeremy Miller, a member of the Colombian Action Network when explaining his decision to go on the delegation. Members of the Colombian Action Network and the Campaign for Labor Rights arranged meetings with peasant, indigenous and student groups, as well as with political leaders, unions, political prisoners and families of Colombians killed or imprisoned by the government.

Carlos Montes is a veteran fighter in the Chicano Liberation movement. He was a founder of the Brown Berets and the Chicano Moratorium. Montes is currently active in the Southern California Immigration Coalition, the East L.A.-based Latinos against War and with CSO, which organizes parents in the East Los Angeles area to fight against the privatization of public education in Los Angeles Unified School District. For more on the Chicano Liberation Struggle, see the League of Revolutionary Struggle’s 1979 Resolution on the Chicano National Question.

Los Angeles, CA – Today, Aug. 29, 2009, shows that our people are continuing the fight for equality and self-determination. It was demonstrated by the many groups that were present today at Salazar Park, including the student group MECHA and the new Brown Berets, to commemorate the historic day in 1970 when over 20,000 Chicanos marched down historic Whittier Boulevard in East L.A. to protest the war in Vietnam and the high casualty rate of Chicanos. The mass peaceful rally in 1970 was attacked by the Los Angeles Police Department and the sheriffs. Ruben Salazar, news director for KMEX, was killed, along with Angel Diaz and Lynn Ward. A similar example of repression took place on May 1, 2007 when the LAPD attacked a pro-immigrant rights rally at MacArthur Park.

Murfreesboro, TN – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held its fourth annual national convention here, July 11 -12, bringing together around 100 students and youth activists from across the country.